1.We are helping to organise a Health Campaigns Together Conference on Social Care on Sat 17th Nov in Birmingham. This is a bold venture as it isn’t clear that any other organisation is trying to bring together people to discuss what we want Social Care to look like and how we start campaigning to get there .
It is increasingly impossible to separate campaigning for the NHs without addressing the almost wholesale privatisation and underfunding of Social Care.
Please join us in Birmingham on 17thNovember Registration costing £10 and £5 is now open on the HCT website or just click on https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reclaim-social-care-tickets-50492034033
2. The NHSE consultation on withdrawing / severely restricting 17 treatments closes on 28th September.
If you haven’t filled it in you might like to look at the document from KONP which is a great help and includes alink to the consultation. I sent it on 11th Sept. with the notes of the last mtg but will re-send separately to avoid overloading this e mail.
3.The CQC is calling for evidence from “local stakeholders” prior to their review of Leeds health and social care systems in October. They are particularly interested in experience around older people moving between health and social care services, including delayed transfers of care. If you want to contribute, please see health&socialcarereviews@cqc.org.uk before 24thSeptember 2018
Upcoming events
22.9. 12 noon Demo to save Liverpool Women’s Hospital assembles at the hospital and marches to the waterfront where te Labour Party Conference is assembling
23.9 11am HCT and Neon mtg on saving our NHS ,p art of the World Transformed Conference, BlackE main area, Liverpool.
25.9 6-8pm Socialist Health Association Mtg at the Quaker Mtg House,22 School Lane Liverpool
26.9 2.15-4.15 LTHT AGM in the seminar room, ground floor, Gledhow. Handover of KONP/LHA NHS 70th birthday cards at end of mtg.
26.9 4.30-5.30 Leeds CCG AGM 4.30-5.30 at St. George’s Centre ( tea from 4pm)
28.9 1.30 -3.30 HCT Yorks mtg at Unison offices, Commerce House, Wade Lane, next to Merrion Centre
Sat 29.9 11am Leeds KONP stall on Commercial St.near Accessorize, not far along from Boots
Sat. 6.10 12-1pm HRI demo 12-1pm Market Cross, Huddersfield
Sat 13.10 KONP stall 11am venue tbc
NEXT LEEDS KONP mtgs Wed 10th October 6.30- 8pm pm in The Victoria Hotel, Great George St.
Wed 24th October 6.30 – 8pm in the Victoria Hotel, at rear of Town Hall
Dear Sir,
On Wednesday 22nd August, NHS England (NHSE) held a public discussion in Leeds Town Hall on restricting access to 17 different medical interventions, including surgery for common hand problems, varicose veins, tonsillectomy and other conditions. Although an important national consultation on major changes in NHS provision, poor advertising and summer holidays meant it was attended by only a handful of people.
The supposition behind the proposals is that doctors thoughtlessly recommend surgical interventions that are neither effective nor safe to hundreds of thousands of patients each year.
While there are excellent evidence based guidelines already available for who should have these treatments, clinicians must be compelled to make special funding requests for individual patients, and hospitals told they will not be paid for activity, in order to bring them into line with NHSE designated ‘best practice’.
The Royal College of Surgeons objects to interventions that improve quality of life and reduce pain being designated as ‘low value’, pointing out that not treating some conditions may lead to much more costly complications later on.
Revealingly, the current limited list of ‘low value interventions’ echoes that drawn up by management consultants McKinsey when asked after the 2008 banking crisis how the NHS could save money. NHSE plans to expand rapidly beyond the current list of 17 restricted treatments.
The public need to be aware that this process fundamentally changes the way the NHS works and strikes at the heart of the doctor patient relationship, where clinicians assess a patient’s needs and wants, recommending treatment based on sharing evidence of risks and benefit.
The current projected savings are minute (0.16% of NHS budget), but a key objective of NHSE is to establish that the NHS will no longer provide some treatments, and you wont be able to have these unless you pay to go privately. I would encourage your readers to visit the NHSE website (https://bit.ly/2uNYQOg) and feedback their views through the ‘consultation on evidence based interventions’.
Yours faithfully,
Dr John Puntis
Leeds Keep Our NHS Public
We hope that most of you have enjoyed some time off over the summer but are ready to don running shoes to campaign for the NHS this autumn.
Next meetings – Wed 5 Sept, Wed. 19 Sept, 6.30 – 8pm, Victoria Hotel, Great George St
Actions:
Getting out a reader friendly new leaflet for stalls in local areas re what is happening to the NHS including rationing, restructuring and privatisation
Setting up a public meeting late October/ early Nov
Trying to intervene with the LA , CCG , Scrutiny and West Yorks bodies re the development of Integrated Care Partnerships ( ACO/Ps)
Trying to make sure that LTHT’s plans for a Wholly Owned Subsidiary are not just on hold but dead in the water.
Putting together a publicity campaign re creeping privatisation in Leeds, sale of NHS logo etc which might include a photographic exhibition, postcards, stickers etc. .
Planning a Yorks or Northern Conference/ workshop , maybe end of Jan
Deciding whether to go for another march early April
Doing more on social care
Upcoming events:
Until 28 September : NHSE rationing consultation open for on line responses See https://bit.ly/2uNYQOg.
Wed. 5 Sept. 9.50am Leeds Health and Wellbeing Board , probably in the Swarthmore Centre ( has 10 min slot for questions from public )
Wed 12 Sept. 10.30 – 12.30 in Leeds : NHSE consultation event on the contracting arrangements for Integrated Care Providers ( ACOs ) . Venue tbc. To read more and respond online (before 26 October) https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/proposed-contracting-arrangements-for-icps/
Tuesday 18 Sept. 1.30pm Leeds Adults, Health and Active Lifestyles Scrutiny Committee in the Civic Hall
Sat. 22 September 12 noon March to save Liverpool’s Women’s Hospital starts 12 noon at the Hospital and ends at the waterfront. ( LP Conference weekend.)
Wed 26 September 2.15 AGM of Leeds Teaching Hospital in Gledhow Wing seminar room ( ground floor, off the canteen)
Friday 28 Sept. 1.30-3.30 Yorkshire Health Campaigns Together Network Meeting, Unison Regional office, Commerce House, Wade Lane, LS2 8NJ
Sat. October 6, 12 noon Hands Off HRI rally and march starting at the Market Cross, Huddersfield
Sat. Nov 17, 11-4 National Health Campaigns Together Conference on Social Care in Birmingham ( St Luke’s Centre)
Please join in- details below:
NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is currently engaging with patients, health and care professionals, providers, voluntary sector and the wider public about our proposal for a single primary care mental health service in Leeds.
Primary care mental health services are services usually provided through the GP practice to people with mild to moderate mental health problems. You might be referred into primary care mental health services if you are feeling low, vulnerable or anxious.
In Leeds there are three different primary care mental health services available:
· Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), also known as talking therapies, provide psychological support for people with common mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety disorders. In Leeds, the IAPT service is provided by Leeds Community Healthcare (LCH) NHS Trust, Community Links, Northpoint Wellbeing and Touchstone. The whole service is known as the Leeds IAPT Partnership.
· Primary Care Mental Health Liaison Service for people whose needs cannot be met by the IAPT service. This is currently a pilot project that is only provided at some GP practices in Leeds and is delivered by Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) and Northpoint Wellbeing.
· Women’s Counselling and Therapy Service and Home Start that provides support to women in the perinatal period of pregnancy from conception to one year of birth.
Once the current contracts come to an end in September 2019, NHS Leeds CCG intends to commission a single primary care mental health service for Leeds. We think this will make services easier to understand and access.
The CCG is asking anyone with an interest in primary care mental health services to help shape the new the new citywide service model by taking part in a survey www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/MHprimarycareservices/
The closing date for the survey is 30 September 2018.
To ensure we’re providing enough opportunities for people to give their feedback, we have organised three public engagement events where we’re hoping to meet local residents and invite them to share their views on primary care mental health services in Leeds. The events will take place at:
• Armley One Stop Centre 6th of August, 10am-12pm
• Reginald Centre – 28th August, 10am-12pm
• Dewsbury Road Community Hub -13th Sept, 1pm-3pm
For more information about this engagement please visit our website here: https://www.leedsccg.nhs.uk/get-involved/your-views/primarycaremhservices/
Tomorrow 6.30 – 8pm come and join in discussing how we take forward our campaigning in and around Leeds then maybe stay for a few tunes, songs and drink.
Michael Parkinson from Unison will be joining us to give us an update on the plans and resistance to outsourcing NHS staff into Wholly Owned Subsidiaries
John and Gilda will outline Leeds CCG plans for re-shaping ( and cutting) health services both in the City and as part of the West Yorks and Harrogate Integrated Care Partnership.
